Time for a rant...

Bongedone

macman wrote: »

It's not having a credit record at all that is negative. Prospective lenders want to see evidence of credit taken out and regular repayments made.
The credit report is self explanatory, it shows your current and past credit transactions.

Actually no, this is incorrect. If you pay in full and never have any outstanding balance they don't make money from you.

Read item 2 on the guide from this site:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score

I would have thought the new mobile company would have spotted the OPs last mobile contract though.

I'm approaching debt free after a long time but I will always leave some sort of credit, most likely an HP agreement for something.

Macman you may have missed that the OP does not have debt and clears everything in full.

Stuart_W

Bongedone wrote: »

If you pay in full and never have any outstanding balance they don't make money from you.

Rubbish. If my bank didn't make money from my credit card account, why on earth would they be paying me and thousands of other people cashback each and every month? They are not relying on me being tempted to max-out my card and then pay off the minimum. They are making money from me, and giving me a small share of that money back in cashback.

You are missing the point Martin makes in his article that you link to. Some people may be rejected for credit if the bank make a commercial decision based on thinking they won't make any money. If someone always pays of debts, and already has lots of available credit, they may decide they will not profit from offering such a person a 0% introductory credit card, and thus decide not to. This has nothing whatsoever to do with being approved for a mobile phone contract.

macman is correct. In this instance, having a credit account which is up to date - and payments are made regularly and on time (whether the minimum payment, full payment, or anything inbetween) - will show evidence of a credit account being maintained well.

Talkmobile may just have tight credit control. If the deal was good enough, a £100 deposit may have been worthwhile (although the poor communication doesn't bode well, especially if it's a long contract).

Guys_Dad

I think we need to get back to the original post.

Biggsy was told that they had dispatched his handset the previous Thursday. That turned out to be a lie.

He was told "next day delivery". That was also untrue.

Web site also says next day. That appears to be untrue too!

So why then believe them when they say that his credit record was shot? Strikes me that they may have been stalling for time, run out of stock or didn't want to go ahead with the deal.

Forget it and go with a company that does what it says.

Bongedone

Stuart_W wrote: »

Rubbish. If my bank didn't make money from my credit card account, why on earth would they be paying me and thousands of other people cashback each and every month? They are not relying on me being tempted to max-out my card and then pay off the minimum. They are making money from me, and giving me a small share of that money back in cashback.

You are missing the point Martin makes in his article that you link to. Some people may be rejected for credit if the bank make a commercial decision based on thinking they won't make any money. If someone always pays of debts, and already has lots of available credit, they may decide they will not profit from offering such a person a 0% introductory credit card, and thus decide not to. This has nothing whatsoever to do with being approved for a mobile phone contract.

macman is correct. In this instance, having a credit account which is up to date - and payments are made regularly and on time (whether the minimum payment, full payment, or anything inbetween) - will show evidence of a credit account being maintained well.

Talkmobile may just have tight credit control. If the deal was good enough, a £100 deposit may have been worthwhile (although the poor communication doesn't bode well, especially if it's a long contract).

On re-reading the article with your perspective of it I'm seeing it differently to how I read it originally.

The OPs problem is a strange one unless he has issues on his record that he does not know about.

P.S Notice we have been members here about the same length of time

Stuart_W

Bongedone wrote: »

P.S Notice we have been members here about the same length of time

and you've managed many more posts than I have!

My advice to the OP would be along the lines of others. If this is how they treat new and potentially new customers, goodness knows what chance you'll have of dealing with them if you have handset, service or billing issues to sort out.

mcc100

biggsy137 wrote: »

"It was dispatched last Thursday, you need to allow 3 - 5 working days, the sales person was wrong to tell you it was next day"

This is what really annoys me ....... call centre staff telling outright lies.

biggsy137 wrote: »

Phone them this morning and get
"no it's not been dispatched but yes we do require a deposit, take it up with experian" :mad:

biggsy137

Wow, I go away for one day and my thread gets massive
Anyway, Quick update on my circumstances as was mentioned earlier about good credit maintenance, I would have thought (in my amateur mind) that mine should be ok - I have had cards and contract phone for a long time and never missed a payment...

update on the phone issue - Yes it was quite a good deal, and the deposit was 'refundable' but it was a bit wooly as to when etc. However, after a call to phones 4u yesterday lunchtime, I have my shiny new phone next to me as I type this - That's next day delivery!! They did the credit check while I was on the phone so I knew it had all gone through. And although I am paying slightly more than I would have done through talk mobile it seems like over all have got a better deal. As you have all said, if they tread a perspective new customer like that, how do they treat a customer who is 5 months into a 24 month contract...

Update on the credit report - That's next weeks mission I think!

Cheers once again!!